St. Cloud State Men's Basketball Snaps Six-Game Losing Streak to CSP in OT

Saturday, January 7

St. Paul, Minn.

5:30 PM

St. Cloud State

6-9,3-7NSIC

Concordia St. Paul

3-13,1-9NSIC

OT 1

St. Cloud St.

Concordia-St. Paul

St. Cloud State Men's Basketball Snaps Six-Game Losing Streak to CSP in OT

1/8/2023 12:07:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Huskies give up 18 point lead but hold off to win 87-78 in OT

ST. PAUL, Minn. - The St. Cloud State men's basketball team snaps a six-game losing streak by holding off the Concordia St. Paul Golden Bears in overtime Saturday evening at the Gangelhoff Centre in St. Paul, MN. In 45 minutes of play, the Huskies held out to win 87-78 over the Bears. St. Cloud shot .418 from the field with eight Huskies adding points to the board and three scoring in the double-digits.

GAME SUMMARY
St. Cloud opened up the game hot, holding the lead through the first six minutes of play until the Bears tied it up at ten each. The Huskies then took the game back into their hands as a three-point jumper by Jalen Griffin gave the Huskies a nine-point lead with 4:14 left of the first. St. Cloud continued to stay on top and at the last second Griffin sank a second chance put back in the paint for the Huskies to close out the half up 38-27 over the Bears. Matthew Willert led with ten first half points while Luke Taylor knocked down nine points.

Back on the court for the second half it was all Huskies Basketball. St. Cloud went on a 14-7 run to go up by 18 points to lead 52-34, which would be their largest lead of the game at the 13:39 minute mark. Unfortunately, that sparked CSP to make a move as St. Cloud gave up their lead as the Bears went on a 43-27 run to take a 77-74 lead over St. Cloud with just nine seconds left in the game. During that time, foul trouble hit the Huskies lineup as several of them had four fouls which forced them to play more cautiously to avoid fouling out. The Huskies felt the loss in the paint as Taylor was given his 5th foul and had to watch from the bench at the 3:29 mark. With nine seconds left and the Huskies down three, CSP made the mistake and sent Willert to the line with the chance to make it a one-point game. Willert hit his first shot to make it 77-75 but missed the second with six seconds left. Griffin came up with a huge rebound off Willert's missed shot and had the opportunity to tie the game with his put back. His shot was blocked but luckily went out of bounds off a CSP player. St. Cloud inbounded the ball and Willert was fouled on the play, sending him to the line once again where he netted both shots to tie the game at 77 with three seconds left. Concordia was unable to make a play sending the game into overtime.

In overtime, CSP grabbed an early one-point lead while Griffin was called for his 5th foul of the game on a charge call sending him to the sidelines. Despite losing another player, St. Cloud took over the lead, outscoring CSP 10-1 to hold off the Bears in an 87-78 victory.

TOP HUSKIES

Matthew Willert scored a season high 25 points against the Bears with five rebounds, five assists, and one block
Luke Taylor closed with 17 points, seven rebounds, and two assists
Tony Dahl added ten points, five rebounds, and three assists
Ryan Bagley and Jalen Griffin added nine points each

UP NEXT
The Huskies are back in Halenbeck Hall next weekend. St. Cloud will host Winona State on Friday, Jan. 13 and Upper Iowa Saturday, Jan. 14. Friday's game will tip-off at 7:30 p.m. while Saturday is set for 5:30 p.m.

Single game tickets for the season are now on sale at scsutickets.com. For all the latest on St. Cloud State men's basketball, stay tuned on scsuhuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.